“I expect to get free shipping”

Abstract

Online shopping is today a very popular way of purchasing goods in Sweden, and two out of three Swedes are actively shopping online. When purchasing goods from a web shop, one important part of the process involves the delivery and potential return. There are in many cases delivery and return fees, also called shipping & handling costs, which the consumer sometimes must pay. These costs effect the consumers shopping behaviour in a way that they either can increase the amount of goods in the shopping cart or make the consumer reconsider the purchase. The aim of this paper is to get a deeper understanding of how the shipping & handling costs may affect the consumer’s decision when shopping online. The research was conducted through a mixed-method, combining both interviews and surveys. Our findings imply that shipping and handling costs do affect the consumers decision making online, and that the cost per see can determine whether or not they will go through with a purchase. Surprisingly, almost none of the consumers are interested in returning goods that they are unsatisfied with and especially not if there is a return fee. The majority of the consumers are aware of how it is possible to act sustainable, however, this is something that they almost never act upon when shopping online.